Five years ago, David Smith wore an expensive suit to work every day. “I was a clothes addict,” he jokes. “I used to carry a fresh suit to work with me so I could change if my clothes got wrinkled.” Today David wears casual clothes—khaki pants and sports shirt—to the office. He hardly ever wears necktie. “I’m working harder than ever,” David says, “and I need to feel comfortable.”
More and more companies are allowing their office workers to wear casual clothes to work in the United States. The change from formal to casual office wear has been gradual. In the early 1990s, many companies allowed their employees to wear casual clothes on Friday(but only on Friday). This became known as “dress-down Friday” or “casual Friday.” “What started out as an extra one-day-a-week benefit for employees has really become an everyday thing,” said business consultant Maisly Jones.
Why have so many companies started allowing their employees to wear casual clothes? One reason is that it’s easier for a company to attract new employees if it has a casual dress code. “A lot of young people don’t want to dress up for work,” says the owner of a software company, “so it’s hard to hire people if you have a conservative dress code.” Another reason is that people seem happier and more productive when they are wearing comfortable clothes. In a study conducted by Levi Strauss and Company, 85 percent of employers said that they believe that casual dress improves employee morale(士气). Only 4 percent of employers said that casual dress has a negative impact on productive. Supporters of casual office wear also argue that a casual dress code helps them save money. “Suits are expensive, if you have to wear one every day,” one person said. “For the same amount of money, you can buy a lot more casual clothes.” David Smith refers to himself as having been “a clothes addict” because .
| A．he often wore khaki pants and a sports shirt |
| B．he couldn’t stand a clean appearance |
| C．he wanted his clothes to look neat all the time |
| D．he didn’t want to spend much money on clothes |
David Smith wears casual clothes now, because .
| A．they make him feel at ease when working |
| B．he cannot afford to buy expensive clothes |
| C．he looks handsome in casual clothes |
| D．he no longer works for any company |
According to this passage, which of the following statements is FALSE?
| A．Many employees don’t like a conservative dress code. |
| B．Comfortable clothes make employees more productive. |
| C．A casual clothes code is welcomed by young employees. |
| D．All the employers in the US are for casual office wear. |
In this passage, the following advantages of casual office wear are mentioned EXCEPT .
| A．saving employees’ money |
| B．making employees more attractive |
| C．improving employees’ motivation |
| D．making employees happier |
I have two sons．They are as different as night and day．My youngest is sweet, loveable, easy-going, and finds joy in everything．My oldest we’ve nicknamed the “Evil Genius” is ambitious, self-confident, and suffers no fools．
Whenever we mentioned Santa my husband and I were rewarded with major eye rolling and deep sighs from my oldest．At first we both tried to ignore it．
We both knew that our eldest had figured out the big secret．But I’d be damned(指责) if he was going to ruin it for his six-year-old brother who had plenty of Santa-loving years ahead of him．I looked at my husband in the eye and said, “I’ll handle this．” to which he responded “Okay just be careful because I’m not sure he knows - he might just be acting like it．” But I knew．And I had it in my mind that he was about to break his younger brothers spirit and break the news to him．I was afraid he was going to take the Christmas spirit away from my sweet innocent youngest and stamp all over it．I had to protect him．I needed to control this now before it got out of control．I rushed into the play room where my oldest was playing alone．I looked him dead in the eyes and said: “Well you know Santa isn’t real, right?” And as I stared at my eight-year-old son for what seemed like a long time of silence, his eyes started to fill with tears． And a tear dropped down his cheek when he screamed out, “He’s not?”
“Um well it’s not that he’s not real (shut up you idiot- stop saying he’s not real), but he doesn’t really make and deliver all the toys．Dad and I get some of them for you．So he’s real．He’s just got a little help from us．”
The Evil Genius wasn’t buying it．He just sat there looking at me with an expression of doubt．
You know when you make a terrible mistake but you can’t stop yourself from making it worse? That was me because I just had to know．I had to know why he had seemed to be over Santa． So I asked him why he rolled his eyes and sighed every time his father and I mentioned Santa, to which he replied that kids at school had been saying Santa wasn't real but that he still thought he was．What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．Two different sons |
| B．Santa secret given away |
| C．Protecting one, ruining the other |
| D．Making a mistake worse |
What did the writer conclude when “Evil Genius” rolled his eyes and sighed?
| A．“Evil Genius” had discovered Santa was not real． |
| B．“Evil Genius” had broken the secret to his younger brother． |
| C．“Evil Genius” had passed his Santa-loving years． |
| D．“Evil Genius” had been influenced by his classmates． |
What does the underlined sentence mean in the passage?
| A．“Evil Genius” refused to buy toys． |
| B．“Evil Genius” didn’t believe his mother’s words． |
| C．“Evil Genius” wanted to keep silent． |
| D．“Evil Genius” would not give away the secret． |
What lesson can we learn from the story?
| A．Lies can never change facts． |
| B．Honesty is the best policy． |
| C．No one is perfect． |
| D．We should think twice before we act． |
“People are ruder today because they are rushed and more ‘time poor’ than ever before,” says Patsy Rowe, “ Manners have fallen off the radar(雷达)．” Due to our strong attraction to electronic equipment it is a wonder that more people don’t wake up each morning and greet the singing birds with complaining about the noise．Here are some examples of rudeness．
Some people prefer to do almost everything over the Internet．To them, dealing with an actual human is like an evolutionary step backward． It feels very slow because humans don’t work at 4G speeds．When you have dinner with friends, you will often notice someone paying more attention to his mobile phone．We have programmed ourselves to think that every new message brings life-changing news, so taking calls and checking our texts are more important than talking to the people we are with．What is worse, some people even tend to send anonymous（匿名的）rude messages by email．
However, rudeness is never acceptable．Don’t assume it is OK to be rude if the person you’re in touch with won’t recognize you．If you have something awful to say, have the courage to face the person and say it, write a letter or email and sign it, or forget it．Upsetting people with unsigned messages is cruel and disgusting．
We shouldn’t blame technology for our shortcomings．Technology is here to help us, but we should not allow it to take over our lives．An important step is acknowledging our shortcomings．People spend a lot of time pointing out bad manners but it would be even more helpful if we’d publicly acknowledge good manners when we see them．What can be inferred from the underlined sentence in Paragraph 1?
| A．People can tell good from bad behavior． |
| B．Radar is able to observe human behavior． |
| C．People care little about their behavior． |
| D．Radar can be used to predict human behavior． |
Some people are less willing to deal with humans because__________．
| A．they are becoming less patient |
| B．they are growing too independent |
| C．they have to handle many important messages |
| D．they have to follow an evolutionary step backward． |
The author thinks sending unsigned awful messages is ___________．
| A．Ridiculous |
| B．disgusting |
| C．acceptable |
| D．reasonable |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．We should applaud good behavior． |
| B．Technology can never be blamed |
| C．We should keep pointing out mistakes． |
| D．Technology will take over lives one day． |
Death is natural, but do you have any idea of the process of dying? Modern scientists divide the process of dying into two phases --- clinical or temporary death and biological death．Clinical death occurs when the vital organs, such as the heart or lungs, have ceased to function, but have not suffered permanent damage．The organism can still be revived(复活)．Biological death occurs when changes in the organism lead to the “breaking up” of vital cells and tissues．Death is then unchangeable and final．
Scientists have been seeking a way to prolong the period of clinical death so that the organism can remain alive before biological death occurs．The best method developed so far involves cooling of the organism, combined with narcotic sleep．By slowing down the body’s metabolism(新陈代谢), cooling delays the processes leading to biological death．
To illustrate how this works, scientists performed an experiment on a six-year-old female monkey called Keta． The scientist put Keta to sleep with a narcotic． Then they surrounded her body with ice-bags and began checking her body temperature．When it had dropped to 28 degrees the scientists began draining blood from an artery．The monkey’s blood pressure decreased and an hour later both the heart and breathing stopped: clinical death set in．For twenty minutes Keta remained in this state．Her temperature dropped to 22 degrees．At this point the scientists pumped blood into an artery in the direction of the heart and started artificial breathing．After two minutes Keta’s heart became active once more．After fifteen minutes, spontaneous(自发的)breathing began, and after four hours Keta opened her eyes and lifted her head． After six hours, when the scientists tried to give her a penicillin injection, Keta seized the syringe and ran with it around the room．Her behavior differed little from that of a healthy animal．For a person who suffers from the clinical death, _________．
| A．his most important organs are damaged． |
| B．he still has the possibility of getting back to life． |
| C．he can not avoid final death． |
| D．he is still very much alive |
Scientists try to make the time of clinical death longer in order to __________．
| A．slow down the body’s metabolism． |
| B．bring vital cells and tissues back to active life． |
| C．cool the organism． |
| D．delay the coming of biological death． |
How did the scientists put Keta into clinical death?
A． By putting her to sleep, lowering her temperature and draining her blooD．
B． By surrounding her body with ice-bags and draining her blood．
C． By lowing her blood pressure and stopping her heart from beating．
D． By draining her blood, lowering her blood pressure and stopping her breathing． All of the following indicate that the monkey has almost restored to her original physical state except the fact that__________．
| A．her heart beat again． |
| B．she regained her normal breath． |
| C．she rejected a penicillin injection． |
| D．she acted as lively as a healthy monkey． |
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中（A、B、C和D），选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
When Charles Stratton was five, he stopped growing． His mother took him to see the famous showman, P．T．Barnum． Mr．Barnum thought a small person would be the perfect addition to his show．He hired Charles' parents along with him, and they traveled the world together．
He gave the two-foot-tall Charles a name, General Tom Thumb．He taught Tom how to sing, dance, act and tell jokes． When he felt Tom was ready to perform on stage, he made up ads．To stir up great interest, he said that Tom was eleven years old and had come from England．
During the show, Tom fought battles pretendedly with tall people．He also danced upon a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall．Tom's act was very popular and brought in a lot of money．By the time Tom was an adult, he had grown very rich．He had become a billionaire at the age of twenty five．
Fortunately for Tom, Mr．Barnum added more little people to his show, and Tom became lucky in love as well．One of the little people was Lavinia Warren, a schoolteacher．Tom was able to win her love, and they married．
The ceremony and reception were the talk of the town．They were attended by many rich and famous people and by about 2000 guests．Crowds filled the streets of New York to have a look at their tiny wedding marriage．The couple even met with President Abraham Lincoln on their honeymoon just before going to live in Tom's house in Connecticut．
Their wedding, which took place during the Civil War, provided a welcome escape from the sad problems of war．Not willing to let this bit of sunshine fade, communities throughout the country sponsored "Tom Thumb" weddings．In these weddings, small boys and girls, all dressed up, went through marriage ceremony for fun．The underlined words "talk of the town" means________．
| A．it was in the newspaper |
| B．it was the most popular topic |
| C．people spread bad rumors about it |
| D．it was discussed in a city meeting |
What does the author think about Tom's wedding?
| A．Tom and Lavinia were stupid． |
| B．People gave it too much of their attention． |
| C．It was funny and ridiculous． |
| D．It helped people cheer up in a dark time． |
What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
| A．Weddings always make people feel full of sunshine． |
| B．People are always disappointed during war time． |
| C．Entertainment can serve an important purpose． |
| D．People should be married when they are small children． |
In 1826, a Frenchman named Niepce needed pictures for his business ．But he was not a good artist ．So he invented a very simple camera ．He put it in a window of his house and took a picture of his garden ．That was the first photo．
The next important date in the history of photography (摄影术) was in 1837．That year, Daguere, another Frenchman ,took a picture of his reading room ．He used a new kind of camera in a different way． In his picture you could see everything very clearly, even the smallest thing． This kind of photo was called a Daguerreotype．
Soon, other people began to use Daguerre’s way． Travelers brought back wonderful photos from all around the world ．people took pictures of famous buildings, cities and mountains．
In about 1840, photography was developed ．Then photographers could take picture of people and moving things ．That was not simple ．The photographers had to carry a lot of films and other machines． But this did not stop them ,for example, some in the United States worked so hard．
Mathew Brady was a famous American photographer． He took many pictures of great people ．The picture were unusual because they were very lifelike(栩栩如生的)
Photographers also became one kind of art by the end of the 19th century ．Some photos were not just copies of the real world ．They showed feelings, like other kinds of art．
The first photo taken by Niepce was a picture of ____________
| A．his business |
| B．his house |
| C．his garden |
| D．his window |
The Daguerrotype was____________．
| A．a Frenchman |
| B．a photographer |
| C．a kind of camera |
| D．a kind of picture |
If a photographer wanted to take pictures of moving things in the year of 1840, he had to_________．
| A．watch lots of films |
| B．buy an expensive camera |
| C．stop in most cities |
| D．take many films and something else with him |
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